Packing hack to fit ‘a week’s worth of outfits’ in hand luggage

Like most budget airlines, Ryanair employs strict hand luggage restrictions with customers expected to shell out if they want to take a larger bag or more items than the limit allows. But, organisation expert Sophie Liard, also known as The Folding Lady, has a “cheeky” method to help passengers pack everything they need for a week-long holiday without having to pay for more luggage.

She shared a video with her 4.3M TikTok followers, saying: “I’ve been challenged by @onthebeachholidays to ‘pack-hack’ the system and fit a specially curated week’s holiday wardrobe into Ryanair’s free hand-luggage allowance.

“I’m using a cheeky neck pillow trick to pack in enough bikinis to switch up your wardrobe every day of the week – and save you up to £70.”

Using her packing strategy, Sophie was able to fit eight pieces of underwear, two jumpsuits, four bottoms, five shorts, four pieces of beachwear, four tops, four dresses, one let, one pair of flip-flops, make-up, skincare, hair straighteners, headband, eye-mask and a scrunch into what she described as a “tiny carry on”.

She explained: “Less is more. Planning outfits beforehand will give you a big leg up in making sure you don’t overpack.

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“Start to think about what you want to wear, outfits you can mix and match and events you’re going to attend two or three months before the trip to allow for any holiday essentials shopping.

“Accessories are key, and a simple belt can give an outfit a whole new lease of life. Be savvy with what you leave behind – packing the essentials first will allow you to see what space you really have left for those bonus items.”

In the video, Sophie begins by rolling her items and placing them into the suitcase. She said: “Starting with the main case I’m going to bar fold everything in. This way I can see it all and I don’t even need to unpack when I get there.”

Once her main case is filled with clothing, Sophie began to fit items into the zip pockets on her bag. She explained: “I’ve swapped from a roll to a fold so I can use every single pocket available and fill every little nook and cranny.”

Although there is often a debate about whether rolling or folding is the best method for making the most use of space, the organisation expert revealed both can be useful depending on what you are packing.

She explained: “Truth be told there is not much in it when it comes to folding versus rolling – trust me, we tested it at The Folding Lady HQ!

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“A mixture works well, depending on the material of the clothing and what is actually going in the suitcase.

“As a general rule of thumb we’d advise folding the following items; blazers, t-shirts, underwear, jackets, anything delicate or with embellishment and rolling the following; thicker knits, dresses, tights.”

The packing expert also has a trick up her sleeve to sneak an additional few items onboard, even when your ba is “full to the brim”.

She explained: “’m going to show you a super handy pack hack using this cheeky travel pillow meaning you can take a bikini for every day of the week, for free, even when your bag is totally full to the brim.”

For the hack, Sophie removed the pillow from inside of a travel neck pillow and then stuffed it with her bikinis.

The travel pillow can then be carried onboard, though is not restricted by the hand luggage rules.

Sophie said: “Packing for holiday can often feel like the most stressful part of travelling – especially if you’re an over-packer.

“But it doesn’t need to be – now, more than ever, with spiking luggage allowance costs and widespread checked baggage chaos, is the time to minimise packing by taking hand luggage only. It may seem next to impossible to pack all your clothing for a week-long trip into hand luggage, but I’ve shown that this doesn’t have to be the case.”

Zoe Harris, chief customer officer at On the Beach, added: “Hopefully this clever hack helps customers save the pennies for their trip, giving the added bonus extra cash to put towards next year’s break or even spend on beachside cocktails.”